Adjustable nut



l l I Jan. 29, 1946. FRANK 2,393,764

ADJUSTABLE NUT Filed Apri1'22, 1944 w zgii z i 25 INVENTOR. 100/658/7/1/6 Patented Jan. 29, 1946 N1 TED STAT-E S PATEN T OF Fl CEADJUSTABLE NUT Louis Frank, Fellws,"Calif.

Applicationikpri'l 22, 1944;:SerialnNoa532'i266 (Cl. I l-424.8)

3 Z'Claim's.

inventionirelates 213012. threadless nut-rand has .for its principalobject, ;to provide :asnrtpl'e, practical and-inexpensivenut,--devoid:of iconventional a-thread-s "and which .may be conveniently andadvantageously --;employed for transmitting motion ,iromia threaded:shaft, :leadiscrew or the like,.to a :nonrotating elementtsuch as thehalf nut of :a lathe or drill press.

.A further o'b'j ectioiitmy. invention, is to provide :a nut 1 of the*character' referred 'to, which may he used as a utility oremergency-nut upon threaded shafts tor rods of varying diameters, thus, in effectenabling one "nut to beusedin the place of conventional nuts havingthreaded -open'ings of definite or standard sizes.

A further object of my invention' is, to provide a thre'adlessnut havinga plurali-tyof radially movable thread engaging dogs and with simplemeans for moving same into engagement with the thread of a shaft rod orthe "like and'for' releasably securing said dogs in such engagement.

'With the foregoing and other objects in view,

-my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and"arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described andclaimed and illustrated in the accompanyd'rawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an "elevati'ona-l view partly in section, of'my'improved'nutand showing a machine part with which it may beassociated.

Fig. '2' is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fi 1. V

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fi 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the nut.

Fig. 5 is a cross section of the modified form of the nut.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the thread engaging dogs.

Fig. 8 is an end elevational View of the dog.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are detail sectional views of difierent forms ofthread engaging dogs.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing particularly the formof nut illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, l0 designates a machineelement, for instance the part that receives the half nut which engagesthe lead screw II of a lathe, drill press or the like.

Arranged for limited rotary movement in element In is a ring l3, withinwhich is formed one or more pockets M, the bottoms of which are provided.i'circwnzferential'ly disposed cam'tcr eccentric races? 5.

Loosely arranged "within ring 43 :i xa'ring 1.3 the .iinternalidiametera-ofwhichtis slightly vlarger than that-20f FSCI'EW *lxl landformed through :said ring at the deepest ends of the pockets M areradiallykdisposedzapertures 'l :l which "are provided intermediate theirends with shoulders 1'8.

In. the drawing, I have shown the' nut provided with three pockets M.andnap'ertu'res ill, but "it is' to be understood that this number may'bei increased orde'crease'd as desired.

Loosely arranged in --eac'h' aperture H is 'a thread engaging dogcomprising a rounded head I!) which bears on cam suriace 15. 1amintermediate shank -20 and an inner tooth 2! which is adapted to engagein the groove between the threads of screw H.

An ex-pansive coil spring 22 is disposed between shodldertB and head IQofea'chdog, thus' tending to force "said dog outwardly away from thescrew.

Formed on the periphery of ring l3 between twoo'f the dogreceivingapertures l is'a series of ratchet teeth 23 which are engagedby the point *of a pawl 24, pivoted at 2 5, in an opening 26in saidring.

An expansive spring 2! is arranged beneath the "rear portion of pawl "24so as to force the point thereof into engagement with teeth 23.

Pivoted at 2 Storing l3 rearwardly from opening 26, is a pawl releasinglever 29 and adjustably mounted on member ID to the rear of this lever,is a stop plate 30.

This plate is adjustable my means of a set screw 3| seated in member IDand which passes through a slot 32 in said plate and the degree ofadjustment may be accurately regulated by means of a graduated scale 33,formed on member l0, adjacent said plate.

The construction just described provides means for controlling therotation of ring l0 carrying pawl 24, relative to ring l6 having the camsurfaces which determine the position of the thread engaging dogs withrespect to the diameter of the shaft l I with which the nut isassociated.

When ring I3 is rotated rearwardly a certain distance the rear end oflever 29 will strike against adjustable stop 30 and thereby swing onpivot 28 to depress the rear end of pawl 24 and disengage the pointthereof from the ratchet teeth 23.

' In order to achieve best results the thread engaging dogs may bedisposed in spiral arrange 'ment to correspond with the pitch of thethread spond with the pitch of the thread. Further, if

desired, the inner end of .each dog may be providedwith two or threethread engaging teeth as seen in Fig. 8. e I

The utility or emergency nut illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 includes anouter member 35 having peripheral wrench receiving faces 36 and arrangedfor rotary movement within said member is a ring 3''! carrying aplurality of spring pressed thread engaging dogs 38, practicallyidentical with the corresponding dogs in the form of nut seen in'Figs. 1to 3 inclusive. v

The rounded heads on the outer endsof the dogs 38 bear against the camsurfaces 39 of pockets 40 formed in the inner peripheryof member 35.

Parts 35v and 31 are held together for relative rotary movement in anysuitable manner, for instance by screws or 'pins 41 seated in the outermember and engaging in a groove .42

formed'in the outer periphery of ring 31, or by a snap ring seated inregistering grooves in the two members.

Formed on the periphery of ring 331 is a series of ratchet teeth 53 andpivoted at 4 3 in a recess 45 in member 35 is a springpressed pawl 46,the

' point of which engages said teeth.

In this construction, when member 35 is roand round. The adjustment ofposition of the dogs in this form of nut may be regulated by means of agraduated scale on one of thefaces departing from the spirit ofmyjnvention, the V scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a machine part an a threaded shaft passingthrough said machine part, of a member arranged for rotation within saidmachine'part, a ring arranged for rotation within said rotary member,spring pressed dogs carried by said ring and adapted to engage thethread of said shaft passing through said ring,

the inner periphery of said rotary member being I provided with camfaces against which the outer tated a shortdistance toward the righthand the I dogs 38 will-be moved inward, as a result of the engagementof the heads of said dogs against the cam surfaces 39 and member willbeheld against reverse rotary motion by pawl 43 en'- gaging the ratchetteeth, until said pawl is released, by inward pressure on its rear end.I

. Thus the dogs 38 may be moved radially for a distance equal to thedepth of the cam surfaces '39 and such distance is suflicient toenablethe nut to be interchangeably used on threaded shafts or the like whichvary in diameter throughout a range of a half inch more or less.

On nuts of considerable length the thread engaging dogs may be used inmultiple, that is, two or more 1 dogs in. alignment with each otherlengthwise of the nut.

'- In Figs. 9, 10 and 11, I have shown the inner ends of the dogs shapedfor engagement with different shaped standard threads such as V, acmeends of said dogs engage, a ratchet and pawl connection between saidouter member. and ring and manually operable pawl releasing meanscarried by said rotary member.

2. The combination as set forthin claim 1, I with an adjustable stop onsaid rotary member for said pawl releasing means.

3. The combination with a machine part and a threaded shaft passingtherethrough, of a member arranged for rotation within said machinepart, a ring arranged for rotation within said rotary member, springpressed dogs carried by said ring and adapted to engage said shaft, theinner periphery of said rotary member being provided with cam facesagainst which the outer ends of said dogs engage, a ratchet and,

pawl connection between said outer member and ring, a member pivotallymounted on said rotary member and normally engaging the rear end of saidpawl and a stop adjustably mounted on the machine part for actuating andlimiting the rearward movement of said pivotally mounted member. 1

LOUIS FRANK.

